Fort Worth weekly gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-08-12
4 SEVERE DROUTH.
4 Strip Of Country the Size Of Ne
braska, Or 0ne-Fourth the SIZE Of
Texas, Plagued with Drouth.
Vegetation Dead-Catile Turned INTO
The Corn, Unable 10 FiEd SUs.
tenance-The Water Poisonous.
Much Sickness Srsyaleut-Prairie Fires
Raging In Every Dire ction-No Rain
in Ten Weeks
4 SAD STATE OF AFFAIRS.

summonlnS up the many reports received
by it OF drought, rrairie fires, ruined
crops, etc, says this morning: There IS an
sres Of perhaps $4,000 square miles in
the Northwest where the Dust lies heavily
upon the earth. The district is bounded
by Madison or the north. BLOOMINGTON
the south, Lake Michigan on the east and
the Mississippi river on the west. 1t is
within the limits Of these boundaries the.
vegetation hiss lost its normal color and
earth its moisture. Day after day the
sun seIGs its burning rays upon ire
parched farms anG fields. The leaves
are falling # the trees, the grass il the
meadows has grown yellow and waite,
and the streams on which cattle used 10
satisfy their thirst are as
DRY AS POWDER HORNS
It has been nearly ten weeks sine s,
soaking rain fell in this district. TIE
big DULL thistle, the pest Of nearly every
farm, has 81 last succum5ed to the fate Of
all other vegetation. The big weed first
wiIted, then turned blsck and finally fell
upon the esTth. With not enough mois-
ture in the ground to feed the thistle, the
condition Cf corn and the tender grass IL
the raesd0W may be imagined. In South
ern Wisconsin there ere thousands OF
acres where the corn will not yield =
peck TO the ccre. Tie crop Eas been
ScJrChed and
ALMOST TOTALLY DESTROYED.
The leaves Of the cereal are yellow end
brittle end droop almost to the ground
The loss q the corn crop IS serious Is l.
viii most impoyerish the farmers. They
nave lived IL the country since the IGnC
W@s licst TILED and have for tle mos. par.
laid by enough money to carry them
through the winter, but there are ether
dangers TO be confronted. The wells
h9ve run dry AMI in some towns water
famines are imminent. The drinking water
At hand is often polluted and filed with
poisonous germs. Typhoid fever is be
coming more prevailing and dyssentery
and other stomach disturbances ace so
common in some places as to be
ALMOST EPIDEMIC.
Unless rain falls before many days the
suffering Will be greatly augmented. The
intense beat has been terrific strain,
but its eff6ct upon the cattle has been
simply appalling. Without pasturage to
browse upon or pools in which to stand
during the hot hours of the day, the poor
beasts have become so emaCiated as 10 be
wholly unmarketable. The farmers in the
dairy districts have, in some instances
been compelled TO feed and water their
COWS from their own Harder. In other
places forest trees have been felled and
dragged to the pastures, snd the cattle
turned loose to browse upon the leaves.
| Hundreds Of COWS sre being Filled and
shipped TO market.
FOR MERE PITTAECE
At WinsloW, Ill.,, one farmer bought
ten head Of cattle last January ST $50 per
+ head, When he offered to sell the entire
nerd last week for 500 he could net f1d
purchaser. The farmers in tals district
have already turned their cattle loose to
feed upon the crops. In some places
fences have been run through the corn
/ fields aud the starving cattle permitted to
feed upon the leaves aud stalks. These
fences have in some cases been extended
until the entire fields have been eaten
clean. Added TO al the miseries
attending the great drouth is
the constant fear CT fires.
! The tail grass Of the prsiTies is de&d, the
! fields are re8dy to burst into flames, end
the leaves lie III heaps in the forests.
Sparks start the ire, and the 5listsTiEg.
/ Sahafa-like winds
FAN THE FLAME
! into q corh4gation. Already the land
! encompassed by these boundaries hz=
/ been blackened by wild fires. In some
, towns the people are often called OF;
three or four times day to fight the
fsmes. Destructive fires have been
raging Tor many days st Kenagh8, R!cice
snd WolWortn counties. Ia Wisconsin
thousands OF acres have beer
swept by the flames, and tht
loss to the farmers in hay, grain
terciDg and building is very great
Above Madison the boys are burning
furiouslY and clouds of smoke hang over
the country for miles around. II
Northern Illinois the fires are so numer
GUS that the farmers have plowed ground
about their building in order to check
THE SPEED 0E THE FLAMES.
Should the drouth remain un5rOker
much longer incslculable ruin will o;
wrought by the fires which spring up in IN
expected places and in the most ny steriou
manner. In some parts Of the distric
the drought is so terrible tbs
, butter nuts and walnuts, hav
, fallen from the trees. Potatoes VINE
taken from the ground look ike era
apples. They are wIinkled and spong
and uuht for food. There is also grea
scarcity OF milk, owing 70 the inability c
the cows to fad natures food.
Rain in the Drouth Region